Lost Bloodlines Ch. 05

I stared back at her, confused at where exactly the beautiful agent was going with this. "Like what?"

"Uh...dominant," she said haltingly. "I mean I fantasize about it a lot but actually doing it?" She shuddered. "I could never manage to keep it together like that."

Was she...was she embarrassed about being so commanding and harsh? That was the problem? Not that we had sex or that it was caused by supernatural means, but because she was kinky?

"Hey, don't worry about it," I reassured her. I extended a hand and ran it along her arm comfortingly. "It was the mist. It lowered your inhibitions."

"The mist?" She cocked her head.

"My power," I corrected myself. "Which can make people really horny. It visualizes as a mist...never mind, it doesn't matter." I felt myself blush a darker shade of crimson. "You don't need to be embarrassed, I...liked it. Fuck, I actually liked it a lot."

Her face brightened as she looked at me. "Oh! Then, uh, you're welcome, I guess?" She groaned and put her head on her hands. "That was dumb," she said, almost to herself. She looked at me from the corner of her eye. "Sorry, I just...haven't been with anyone in a very, very long time. I'm not really used to this part."

I smiled. "The part after two people fucked themselves into a stupor during a bout of vigorous and kinky sex?"

Her cheeks darkened further. "Yeah...that."

"Well," I said, tugging at her arm until she let me drape it around my shoulders. I leaned into her, resting my head against the cushion of her soft breasts, careful not to poke her with an errant horn. "Usually I've found this is a good option, Riley."

Her chest vibrated against my cheek as she chuckled lightly. "I have heard of cuddling, you know." She didn't push me away, however. Instead, her arm tightened around my shoulder, her hand coming to rest on the swell of my left breast and lightly stroking the skin there. "My name is Elizabeth. In case you were wondering."

Honestly, I had so solidly entrenched the concept of 'Agent Riley' that I had entirely forgotten that she would have a first name, as stupid as that sounds. "Nice to meet you properly, Elizabeth." I murmured.

We both sat there in silence for a time, enjoying the warmth of each other in the chill of the subterranean room. While I enjoyed the sensation and my body still tingled from earlier, I still had at least one misgiving. 'How much of that was you?' I sent inwards.

I received a mocking laugh. All you, sweetheart. I didn't guess that your partner would so effortlessly take control like that, but I still got what I wanted. A very amusing show too, you've got quite a submissive streak.

I shrugged away the mockery of the demon and simply tried to focus on the present.

After a while, Elizabeth sighed softly. "I'm glad I didn't scare you off." Her other hand twisted gently in one of my hanging locks of hair. "This is hardly professional and if anyone finds out, I'll likely lose my position, but...you're one hell of a lay, Lilith." Her other hanging hand lightly tweaked a nipple and I shivered as a small shock pulsed through my chest. "I wouldn't mind doing that again sometime. If you still want to, I mean"

I pulled up from my comfortable position and looked at the agent. Her cheeks were still red and she wouldn't quite meet my eyes. Her shy and embarrassed manner made me wonder how much of her professional attitude was merely a façade, and how it was such a reserved woman in private could be so domineering in bed. I placed a hand on the back of her neck and brought her down her a deep kiss.

Despite the animalistic sex we had just shared, our first kiss was tender and exploratory, Riley, no, Elizabeth, moving her lips softly and hesitantly against my own as our naked bodies pressed closely together. Our mouths moved together to some inscrutable rhythm, and when we parted, we were both somewhat taken aback by the emotion expressed in such a simple kiss.

To ease both her mind and my own, I smiled mischievously up at her. "I think I'd very much like that." I whispered. I moved closer, pressing the large curves of my breasts tightly against her own. "Maybe next time I'll bring some friends. I bet you would very much enjoy having three monsters to play with." My words had their intended effect, and Elizabeth's eyes widened and she nodded silently.

Mustering some sort of inner composure, the agent coughed awkwardly into her hand and straightened. As she began to stand I shifted away from her, rising to my own feel as she did so. She began to gather up her discarded clothes, deliberately ignoring me as I dressed with as much seductive charm as I could muster. I enjoyed teasing her now that this personal barrier had fallen. When we were both clothed once again, she looked back over to me, and I could see that her professional mask was back in place, her back straight and the angular lines of her face no longer softened by affection. Her eyes had the barest twinkle in them, however, letting me know that the woman I had just cuddled with was still in there somewhere.

She looked back in the direction of the other interrogation room and shook her head in disgust. "I'm going to have to call all this in," she muttered. "I can't believe one of those magic fuckers was one of us this whole time. I've known Kent for years." She gave me a look. "Give me a few minutes, I need to make a few calls."

"And after that?" I queried.

She shook her head and sighed. "At this point, I don't see any need to go through formalities. When I come back, I'll show you the real reason you were brought here today."

-00000-

"Well, shit." I muttered as I looked down on the cavernous hall. Dressed in army camo, figures jogged in neat rows around a circular track surrounding the wide-open space. In its middle, an extensive training area was set up, complete with obstacle courses, firing lanes, weightlifting equipment, and mats for unarmed combat. The room was abuzz with activity, with men and women filling the hall and training rigorously under the watchful eye of what I assumed were officers. The sight was incredible not only because it was entirely underground, lit only by harsh artificial lights from above us, but also because none of the 'people' in the room were actually human.

Every training soldier in the room was some kind of monster, matching the diversity and variety of species back in the prison camp. Two elven women faced off on the sparring mats as another group jogged by, consisting of minotaur, oni, and what looked like a wendigo, all spurred on by a centaur drill instructor. Near the celling, several monsters flew about in mock aerial combat, a harpy diving talons-first into the side of a hovering sphinx-like creature. The bizarre sight of fairies and gnomes armed with automatic rifles on the shooting range only further deepened the incongruity of the sight before me.

"Yeah, that was my response too," Elizabeth chuckled next to me. We stood on a gantry platform overlooking the large underground space. She had led me even deeper into the facility after she called in the death of her boss and fellow agents, passing through several security checks and pass-code protected doors on our way down. The winding hallways had grown increasingly deserted, until we reached the entrance to this large open area.

"Just after after Day 0," she started to speak, leading me down the stairs to the floor of the facility, "We received reports from the CIA that several world governments were gathering up monsters just as we had, but they were attempting to weaponize them, turn them into soldiers. This was when the bigwigs were still debating what to do with all the monsters. Someone floated the idea that we might need to pursue a similar policy."

We had reached the base of the stairs, and Elizabeth began to lead me to the center of the space, passing by groups of training monsters as we did so. They seemed to recognize her, stopping in groups to give brief salutes before continuing their activities. Seems Agent Riley is a bit higher up on the food chain than she let on.

"It didn't gain much traction at first, but then on days three and four post-Turning, the governments of Columbia, Saudi Arabia, Albania, Morocco, and Myanmar underwent internal coups, and groups of monsters seized power. Most of the Turned leading these coups were government officials, mob bosses, or drug lords, and now we have several monster-led rogue states world-wide. This has all been kept from the American public, of course. It became increasingly clear to the Department of Defense that American armed forces might need to learn to combat monsters in the near future."

We neared a central tent in the middle of the large room, where I saw tables and chairs set up as if in a mess hall. As Elizabeth continued her monologue, we passed through its open flaps, and she nodded at a table nearby. I took a seat, and she sat across from me. I tried to ignore the curious stares of camo-attired monsters sitting at the tables nearby.

"The number of Turned members of the US military was smaller than expected, somewhere around 3% after around half died during the transformation. That still left tens of thousands of monsters who used to be members of our military. It was decided that they would form the beginning of a new form of special forces that could supplement the rest of our troops against supernatural enemies." She nodded towards the open flap of the tent and the training fields beyond. "And thus, Project Tartarus was born."

I had listened quietly throughout her exposition dump, but as soon as she finished speaking, I immediately spoke up. "No."

Elizabeth looked confused. "What do you mean, no?"

I sighed as I looked around at our bizarre surroundings. I had gathered exactly where this spiel was leading. "No, I'm not going to join your band of pet monsters. Look, I know we just had a rather intense moment, but I still don't really trust your bosses, especially after they locked us all up in internment camps." Elizabeth looked almost taken aback by my blunt refusal and I shook my head. "Why the hell would you even want me anyway? I thought you guys were suspicious that I was secretly some sort of millennia-old monster hiding from the world or something."

Elizabeth waved away my comment with a hand. "That was Agent Dawson's theory, and I told him that it sounded like bullshit. When we brought you here, his plan was to try to convince you to join anyway, ancient succubus or not." Her hazel eyes bored into mine. "I don't think you understand how much you impressed the top brass with your actions yesterday. We've lost dozens of men and hundreds of monsters in the camp attacks the last few days, and you accomplished the one thing this program was founded to do without even being a member."

I looked away from her intense gaze. "I just did what felt right, okay? That doesn't mean I'm interested in bending over for Uncle Sam. I want to help protect monsters, not be some sort of SpecOps assassin for the government." I cut her off as she opened her mouth to retort. "And don't try to claim otherwise. We both know what I'm capable of, and if they didn't immediately put me to work as some kind of Honey-Trap assassin, I'd eat my non-existent hat." She flushed as she realized that I was probably right. Nevertheless, she was still determined as she looked at me.

"Come with me," she ordered, standing up and walking to the side of the tent. I followed her slowly, watching as she approached one of the mounted TV screens around the walls of the tent and messed with something on her phone. Suddenly the screen blared to life, and some sort of combat footage began to play. It was in an internment camp somewhere mountainous, and I recognized the familiar sight of a pale gray dome overhead as soldiers traded shots with robed figures leading large groups of monsters away in chains. This time, however, the soldiers were clearly losing, and I watched as a full squad was crushed by a slab of rock that lifted from the ground, and a screaming man was lit afire by a cackling red wizard.

I gulped as another scene played out, taken from another prison camp. I watched as soldiers died by the score against the relentless magical attacks, their own weapons ineffective at best against the shielded wizards. One or two went down here and there, but the vast majority of deaths were guards and unlucky monsters hit by stray blasts.

"Please stop," I said weakly, but I couldn't look away. Another scene played out, this time taken from a shopping mall somewhere rural. A massive wolf rampaged throughout the stores, gore dripping from its jaws as it tore helpless shoppers apart. When a group of police officers began to fire at the great beast, it lunged, crushing them underfoot, and I winced at the crack of bone and the tearing sound of flesh. Elizabeth put up more and more scenes of terrible carnage, each caused by some supernatural threat, and human authorities outmatched every time.

If even half of these made it to local news stations, I'm not surprised that people are up in arms. I'd want to kill the monsters too if this was playing non-stop on televisions across America.

"You've made your point," I muttered. Elizabeth shut off the screen, but there was no victory in her face, just a grim determination. All those people...the poor monsters taken away for God knows what...I didn't know how to process all that misery.

"We need your help," she spoke quietly. "We have all these monsters here, but they fight like soldiers. They try to ignore their supernatural aspects, rather than lean into them. And we're fumbling in the dark in trying to understand how their strengths and weaknesses even work, much less use them in a combat situation. You somehow knew how to do both. You can do a lot of good here, I know it."

I was torn deeply. I couldn't deny the truth of her words, and a part of me desperately wanted to try to help all those people, to do something good with this insane turn my life had taken. And yet...I remembered Victoria's tear-streaked face as she begged me to leave with her. I remembered the fear and the disgust in her eyes after I, well, after Lilith tore those men apart. I didn't ever want to become that thing again. How would I protect my friends at the camp if the military sent me half-way across the country?

"I'm sorry," I said haltingly. "I just..."

My words were cut off by a hiss of static from the nearby TV. All around us, each affixed monitor flared to life and buzzed with indistinct static. Monsters all around the room looked around in confusion, and I saw that even hand-held phones were buzzing with the same static. I spared a glance towards Elizabeth, but she was frantically pressing at the screen of her phone, trying to get it to respond to no avail. The volume of the TV's rose of their own accord, and soon the static was almost deafening. Curious groups of monsters wandered or peeked into the tent to see what all the noise was about.

Just as someone yelled to pull the plugs, the static on the screens cleared, and suddenly we were presented by a crystal-clear image of what unmistakably was a throne room. Green-hued pillars of unidentifiable stone rose out of sight in the corners of the screen, bracketing a raised dais. Two monstrous guards stood at attention before the dais, each made out of some sort of green, fibrous material in a vaguely humanoid shape. They held wickedly sharp halberds, guarding the two occupied thrones behind them on the dais. Seated regally were two figures, each dressed in flowing robes that were bedecked in intricate designs mimicking the shape of interlocking flower petals. The woman, seated to the left, had light blue skin and flowing yellow hair beneath a wreath of twisted ivy. Her ears were long and pointed, sticking up noticeable out of her hair. Next to her, on the larger throne, was a green-skinned man, similarly long-eared and with lusciously curled brown hair. Majestic antlers sprouted from his head through a crown of beaten gold.

Whoever was filming this fantastic scene zoomed in closer, and the screens were filled with just the image of the two seated figures. As they came into better view, I noticed that they both seemed...tired somehow. Despite their regal bearing, they leaned heavily on the arm-rests, and there were dark circles under their eyes that marred their flawless features.

However, when, the mysterious man spoke, his voice boomed through the speakers throughout the room with youthful vigor.

"Denizens of Earth, do not be alarmed," he said, and I saw that the tent had rapidly filled to the brim with monstrous soldiers who listened in silence to the mysterious broadcast. "I am Oberon, King of the Seelie Court and representative of the Seat of the Fae. Next to me is my wife, Queen Titania." The ethereal beauty at his side nodded her acknowledgment of his words.

"This broadcast is being sent to every networked device in the world in every human language. Our message goes out not only to every sovereign government on this planet, but also their citizens, human and otherwise. It is imperative that you stop whatever it is you are doing and listen to our words closely."

"I have been chosen to represent the Eight Seats of Monstrous Power in this historic revelation." Oberon stared deeply into the camera, and I shivered as I felt as if he could see me through the screen. "As the world learned eight days ago, the monsters and creatures of the world's fairy tales and myths have become real, emerging from a tenth of the world's human population. However, they were not the first monsters. We have existed alongside humanity for thousands of years, and for centuries now, our presence has been hidden away from the world. We lived alongside you as your neighbors, your friends, your coworkers, but our true nature remained hidden, our worlds separate and at peace." The tone of his voice had been neutral in its delivery, but as he paused, his face tightened, and his following words were much more somber.

"This peaceful arrangement came to an end when humans unexpectedly began to transform into monsters on October 10^th. The Monstrous Seats, the governing body of our society, have begun investigating the cause of this mysterious awakening of monsters, but we remain as much in the dark as you about its cause. It was decided, however, as we witnessed our newborn brothers and sisters locked away like animals, hunted down for sport, and even experimented on by fearful humans, that our seclusion from the world could no longer continue."

Again, Oberon paused, straightening further in his seat and narrowing his eyes. "As of this moment, all Turned individuals on Earth are hereby under the authority and protection of the Eight Seats of Monstrous Power. Any continued attacks or restrictions of their freedoms and liberty by the governments of the world will be considered an attack upon all monster-kind, and dealt with accordingly." He spoke with unyielding steel behind his words, and the seriousness of his threat was readily apparent.

"We understand the turmoil that the emergence of monsters has wrought upon human society, and so we will grant you three days to accede to our demands. During this time, we will send diplomats from each Seat to every human government to negotiate the terms of the population transfer." The somber cast of Oberon's face morphed into something approaching friendly as he spoke. "This is not just a warning, but also an offer. For each government that complies, the Seats offer alliances and the opening of diplomatic relations between our peoples. We can offer advanced medical treatments, economic aid, generous trade agreements, magical technologies, and even military power. There is much to be gained from peace between our peoples, and we encourage you to make the right decision."